The Musical Instruments

It takes a lot of effort to create a song. A lot of instruments are used, when a song is composed. Each instrument gives a different sound to a song or music. Some of the musical instruments, which are widely used when composing a song are:

Guitar: The guitar is a string instrument having 4 to 18 strings, usually having 6. The projection of sound is projected either acoustically or through electric amplification. The guitar is played by strumming or plucking the strings with the right hand. At the same time, fretting the strings with the fingers of the left hand. The guitar is constructed from wood and the strings are made of nylon or steel.

There are three main types of modern guitar:

• The classical guitar
• The steel-string acoustic guitar
• The archtop 

Piano: The piano is an abbreviation of pianoforte and is a musical instrument. The instrument is played using a keyboard. It is widely used for classical, jazz, solo and traditional music. The piano is a bit expensive, but its versatility has made it a very popular musical instrument in the world.

An acoustic piano is made of a wooden case which surround the metal strings and the soundboard. There is a row of 88 black and white keys (52 white, 36 black). Pressing a key produces sound and releasing the key stops the sound.

Flute: The flute is a musical instrument and belongs to the woodwind family of instruments. A flute produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening.

Harmonica: The harmonica or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument which is used worldwide in many musical genres. It is widely used in blues, classical music, jazz and rock and roll.

There are many types of harmonica:

• Diatonic
• Chromatic
• Tremolo
• Octave 
• Orchestral

A harmonica is played by using the mouth (lips and tongue). The air moves into and out of the holes of the mouthpiece. The holes have chambers behind them, containing at least one reed. A harmonica reed is made of brass, stainless steel, or bronze, which is secured at one end and serves as an airway. When the free end vibrates by the air of the player, the airway is blocked and unblocked alternately, to produce sound. The reeds of the harmonica are 'pre-tuned'. Tuning involves the changing of a reed's length, stiffness near its fixed end or weight near its free end.

The harmonica is made up of comb, reed-plates and cover-plates.

Violin:  The violin is a string instrument. It is the smallest and highest-pitched instrument in the family in regular use. The violin typically has four strings.

Saxophone: A saxophone is made of brass and is played by a single mouth-piece. It is mostly used in classical music.

This blog post is inspired by the blogging marathon hosted on IndiBlogger for the launch of the #Fantastico Zica from Tata Motors. You can apply for a test drive of the hatchback Zica today.